Amazon HTC One (M8) Price

RRP: £550

You're spoiled for choice when it comes to quality Android smartphones. Here we compare the new HTC One M8 with the Google Nexus 5 and tell you which one to buy.

The new HTC One M8 is, like its predecessor last year, a great smartphone. Yes, it has its weaknesses, but as flagship Android phones go, there's a lot to like. Since it's already on sale, and since we've run our fine-toothed comb over it, we thought it was about time we found out which is best in our HTC One M8 vs Google Nexus 5 comparison review.

HTC One M8 vs Google Nexus 5: Design and build

It's an easy win for the HTC One M8 on this score. It's a premium smartphone with a one-piece aluminium body that looks and feels great. Build quality is excellent and only badge snobs might have a problem with the big HTC logo on the back.

Of course, we're not saying the Nexus 5 isn't a well-built or good-looking phone. On the contrary, it's a nice piece of kit: it's simply built to a lower cost. That means you get a plastic body instead of metal, and less of a premium feel.

It does mean the Nexus 5 is lighter: 134g vs 160g, but both handsets are roughly the same size overall, and almost the same thickness at around 9mm.

HTC One M8 vs Google Nexus 5: Display

There's not much to choose between two when it comes to their screens. They both have Full HD resolutions and are roughly the same size, with 5in for the HTC and 4.95in for the Nexus.

Both screens use IPS panels, which means great viewing angles and contrast. Whether you're checking email or watching a video, both phones have impressive displays. Colours are vibrant and both are bright.

HTC One M8 vs Google Nexus 5: Hardware and performance

Even though the Nexus 5 is an older smartphone, both are decent performers. The Nexus 5 has a quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM. The newer HTC One M8 has the Snapdragon 801 (the same as the Samsung Galaxy S5).

It's a bit faster in every way, including the speed of the integrated Adreno 330 GPU which is responsible for graphics. The One M8 also has a co-processor, though, which does set it apart from the Nexus 5.

For one thing, it means HTC can do things with its cameras that the Nexus 5 can't. The One M8's twin rear cameras allow you to refocus photos after taking them. It also means you can do more when the One M8 is in sleep mode, such as displaying the time and notifications by double-tapping the screen (this works well with the new DotView case), and swiping on the blank screen to launch apps.

The One M8 can also monitor movements using the co-processor, much as the iPhone 5S does, allowing you to use it as a Fitbit activity tracker without burning through the available battery power. HTC pre-loads the Fitbit app as well.

If you want to see benchmark results, visit our individual HTC One M8 and Nexus 5 reviews, but suffice to say that you won't be disappointed with the performance of either smartphone.